Community testing suspended in favor of vaccinations

A family passing through Gardnerville on Tuesday picked up three coronavirus testing kits at a local pharmacy on their way down to Southern Nevada.

With on-demand drive-through testing available at lots of places the need for community testing has withered.

Earlier this week, Carson City Health and Human Services announced its suspending community and on-site coronavirus testing next month.

Only 15 people took advantage of community testing at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center on Nov. 4, compared to the 383 vaccinations administered the same day.

The public health agency that serves Douglas County has fully vaccinated 25,159 residents or 57.1 percent of the population. Another 2,503 have initiated the vaccination process.

The health agency will continue offering vaccinations. A vaccination clinic is being offered 3-5:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Douglas County Community and Senior Center, 1329 Waterloo Lane.

“The decision to cease COVID-19 testing was based on a drastic decrease in testing demand and the increased focus on COVID-19 vaccinations due to demand,” spokeswoman Jessica Rapp said.

Vaccinations aren’t a guarantee against getting or spreading the coronavirus, but researchers say it does reduce the severity.

An estimated 2,600 people in Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Carson City have experienced break-through cases where they testing positive for the disease two weeks after being vaccinated, according to figures released on Thursday. Of the total 21,110 confirmed cases in the four counties, around 18,000 were unvaccinated, according to the agency.

On Thursday, one death attributed to the coronavirus was reported for the previous week, bringing Douglas County’s total to 66 since August 2020. Of Douglas 4,907 cases, 1,139 are reported to be active with nine new cases reported a day. The county had the same number of new cases and recoveries over the week with 64.

The last community-based testing event was Wednesday in Yerington. The final day for testing at its Carson City offices is Nov. 29.

“Carson City Health and Human Services will continue monitoring the metrics in the community, as well as the interest in COVID testing expressed through calls coming into the Quad-County COVID-19 Hotline,” Rapp said on Tuesday.

The agency will be ready to resume testing if needed.

To find other COVID-19 testing locations visit https://my.castlighthealth.com/corona-virus-testing-sites/.

Community testing started in Douglas on May 11, 2020, and attracted hundreds of people over the first couple of months.